Haley Grace Winchester
by loveintheimpala
Summary: A series of oneshots, mostly requests, following Sam, Dean and their sister Haley.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm going to use this as a place to post my oneshots that are written about Haley, because I've had a few people PM me and ask me to write something with her. _

_Like this, for example, was a request for a Dean/Haley moment from before she left. I have a couple more that I'm working on right now as well so I'll post these on here as well in new chapters. I'll always say at the top if there are any spoilers or if it relates to any chapter from Saving Grace. (You don't really need to be up to date with that either for a lot of the oneshots) _

_Hope you enjoy! :-)_

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><p><em>In this fic, Dean is 17 and Haley is 15.<em>

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><p>St Louis, Indiana — 03:54 am.<p>

Dean stirred out of his light sleep and rolled over onto his back, a hand pressed firmly over his eyes in some attempt to trick his mind into not accepting the morning had come. He released a deep sigh and pulled a hand down his tired face as he cracked open his eyes. It was only then that he realised everything was still dark around him. He glanced to his left and narrowed his eyes at the clock beside him, frowning as he wondered what could have woken him up at that time, before he noticed the light shining through the crack under the bedroom door. He looked over towards Sam's bed and squinted through the darkness, he could see that he was okay, sleeping soundly as his steady breathing sounded throughout the small room. That only left two solutions—Haley was up or their dad was home early.

He reluctantly pushed himself from the warmth of his bed and dragged his feet towards the door, his curiosity getting the better of him. He narrowed his eyes as he headed out of the dark bedroom and into the bright light of the main room of the motel, closing the door softly behind himself. He rubbed a hand down his face in some attempt to adjust to the sudden change of light and let out a short yawn.

His eyes fell to where Haley sat on the couch. One leg was pulled up to her chest while the other leg was stretched out to the table in front of her. She was focused solely on the knee in front of her, not giving the slightest reaction as he entered the room. She seemed to be far too lost in her own thoughts to have even noticed he was standing there.

"Hales?" Dean called over to her, tentative as he looked her over slowly. "You okay, sis?"

At that, she seemed to snap out of it a little. A small nod came from her, barely noticable, but she didn't look up at him, or even away from her lap. "I'm fine." she answered quietly. Her voice was small and quiet, like it had taken all of her energy to manage the response.

Dean just frowned at her, he didn't buy it for a second. "Yeah," he said lightly, making a move to sit down beside her. "Of course you are." She didn't move at all as he dropped down on the couch next to her, tilting his head to the side to get a better view of her face. "What's going on, hm?"

"Nothing." She opened and closed her mouth, for a second he thought she wasn't going to say anything, but she knew better than that. She knew that if she didn't give an answer he would only become more and more insistent for an explanation. "I just..." She shook her head and let out a small, tired sigh. "Bad dream." she mumbled.

It was as she seemed to think back to what it had been that Dean noticed her face change dramatically. It went from stoic and blank to completely broken in the space of a couple of seconds. There were tears shining in her eyes, mixed up with a sadness that he couldn't remember ever seeing on her face before. It honestly scared him a little. He could see that her jaw was tightly clenched, obviously in an attempt to keep her emotions at bay and hold back the tears building up and threatening to fall. She may have only been fifteen but she had always been undeniably strong. Dean had seen her fight back her emotions and keep it together countless times in the past. Sometimes he wondered how she did it.

"Haley?" he pressed softly, confused. He reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, but the slight show of affection and comfort only seemed to push her further. The tears silently rolled down her cheeks, Haley now unable to hold them back. "Hey, come on," He looked over her slowly, anxious to know what could have her in tears at that time of the morning. "What are you crying for?"

It was a rare thing, if ever, that Haley would let anyone see her cry. Even him. She would hide it away the best that she could, she would push it down and cover it all up until she couldn't take anymore. And when everything got too much and she just couldn't hold it back anymore, when her walls finally broke down, she would lock herself away in her room and break down in the quietest way she could. Dean knew that she did it, he had a feeling she knew he did, but they never spoke about it. When she emerged from her room again, as put together as she could make herself appear, he would give a small smile. He would squeeze her shoulder gently as he passed or playfully ruffle her hair. Anything he could to let her know that he was there without having to say it, because neither of them wanted to have that talk. She would give him a grateful smile of acknowledgement and nothing more would be said. Not unless it needed to be.

She barely let them see her show anything she considered to be weakness, she wouldn't allow their dad to think that she couldn't handle the job. She wouldn't let Sam see that she wasn't as strong as he thought her to be. And she wouldn't let Dean see that sometimes she couldn't stay strong and hold it together in the same way that he always appeared able to.

Her tears didn't stop as Dean placed an arm around her shoulders and shifted a little closer to her, rubbing a hand up and down her arm comfortingly. He pulled her towards him and rested his cheek to the top of her head, saying nothing while she cried into his shoulder. A part of him thought that maybe she just needed to get it out, that the best thing she could do was cry and let it all go, but something else told him that something had happened to put her in that state.

"What could be so bad that it has you this upset?" he asked her softly, a little unnerved by the fact she was apparently so upset she couldn't be bothered to hide it anymore. He couldn't think what she could have dreamed about that had put her into the state she was in.

Haley seemed to calm slightly after a couple of minutes and sat up a little straighter so she was looking directly at him. "It's...I mean..." She trailed off and shook her head slowly, like she wasn't sure how she could put whatever it was she wanted to say into words. "Dean, I couldn't do this without you, you know that, right?" Dean just frowned at her, clearly not following what she was talking about. "I had this dream, and you guys, and Dad, none of you were around..." She sniffed and pulled a hand down her face, composing herself slightly. "And it just freaks me out sometimes when I think about the stuff that could happen to you."

Dean looked over her, he wasn't sure he bought that was all she had dreamed about, he got the feeling that whatever it'd been had been so much worse, so much more graphic than how she described it, but he also got the indication that she didn't want to go into anymore detail about it. It wasn't a secret that they all worried about each other, and about what could happen to them. Truth was, he worried about the stuff out there getting both her and Sam, but a lot of the time he just refused to let his mind go there, because they were dark thoughts that he just didn't need.

He reached out and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Hales, you've got me," he assured, taking a hold of one of her hands in his. "And you are always going to have me, I promise you, Haley, no matter what happens, I am never going anywhere, okay? Ever. And, you know what, I don't think I could do this without you, either. You and me, we're a team." His voice was sincere in a way she knew meant he was being completely serious with her. "You know that, right?"

Haley nodded slowly and pushed up a small smile to him. "Yeah, I know." she answered, her voice small but confident, because he knew that she trusted him.

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><p><em>Thank you for reading! I've done so much writing this past week I'm amazed at myself, haha! I'm working on another couple of oneshots for this and a couple of updates for other stories, as well as Saving Grace! <em>

_I really appreciate you taking the time to read my work, hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to leave a review! :) _

_If you have an idea for a oneshot for this just send me a PM and let me know, I'll be happy to write anything for you! (It can be totally AU from Saving Grace, too!) _


	2. Chapter 2

_This chapter is a oneshot based on a request I had from Winchestergirl67, who I asked to read over Chapter 8 of Saving Grace before I posted it. It's set just after Haley had died. _

_It ties in with Chapter 8, which will be posted this Friday! (No real spoilers) :-) Hope you enjoy!_

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><p>The amount of alcohol never seemed to make much of a difference to Dean anymore. Usually, when it came to going out for a few beers, it was because he wanted to have a good time, because he wanted to drink and laugh and forget about all of the pain and the hard life that he lived, even if it was just for one night. Somehow, if just for a little while, he was able to let go. But usually, there would be a brown haired girl sitting beside him at the bar. Usually, he wouldn't be alone. Usually, he wouldn't be drinking to numb the pain of her not being there.<p>

This time the drinking wouldn't change his mood, if anything it made it worse. The hurt and the pain wouldn't leave him, and no matter how hard he tried to drown it, the sharp glasses of whiskey would do absolutely nothing to tame the angst and grief that consumed his entire body. Some nights he would allow his eyes to wander the bar around him, where he would see people out having fun together, people laughing and joking as they drank, and it would make it worse. He would see people with their friends and families, kidding around while they played pool together or sat at the bar and poured shots down their necks with each other, the same things he had once done with his sister. That hurt. But some nights, like tonight, he would sit with his eyes fixed nowhere but the glass on the bar in front of him.

Everything hurt, because everything reminded him of Haley. And he wanted to be there for Sam, he wanted to support him the best he could, but it wasn't easy. He held everything back around him because he knew he had to be strong, but it wasn't as easy when he was alone. He had no one there to offer him support when he was by himself. All he could do was tell himself to pull it together, warn himself that he needed to go back to Sam. But he knew his brother wanted space, and if that helped Sam deal with everything, he had to respect that. But that left him needing something else to take his mind from her. And that had quickly turned to whiskey. It became his distraction from the world around him, as though he could make it all stop.

"Dean?" A deep voice sounded from behind him, a voice he wasn't at all ready to listen to.

He closed his eyes tightly and bowed his head a little, wishing that it would all just go away, praying that he could just drink the pain away one glass at a time. All he wanted was an escape from the torturous memories of her that haunted him throughout the day. He wanted to be alone, not to have to deal with anyone, or anything. In truth, he wanted it all to stop.

"What are you doing, Dean?" The voice persisted, now speaking directly from his left side. His green eyes slowly rose to see where his dad stood leaning against the bar. "Sam's worried sick about you." he scolded. "He said you just walked out."

Dean shook his head slowly, looking back to the glass in his hand before he downed the last of the liquid. "Hey, Dad." he muttered, even he heard the slight slur in his response, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "Thought you'd wind up in here eventually." he added, it was obviously sarcasm, but Dean made no attempt to change his monotone voice from the low and emotionless one it seemed to have held all night.

John narrowed his eyes at his son, suspicious. He had seen him drunk before, he had seen him bordering on wasted before, but he had never seen him in a state that had him speaking to him like that. Truthfully, he was a little taken aback by it all. His eyes fell to the empty glass on the bar in front of his son, and he gave a small sigh. "Are you drinking whiskey?" Dean simply stared at the glass, looking as though he couldn't even be bothered to dignify his question with an answer. "Dean, how many of those have you had?"

Dean scoffed and pushed the glass away from himself, finally looking up to meet his eyes. "Well, you'd sure be the expert in that department, wouldn't you, Dad?" he said darkly, before he pushed himself up from the bar stool and stormed past him towards the exit.

He wasn't out on the parking lot for more than a few seconds when he heard heavy footsteps behind him. "Dean!" His dad's voice travelled past him, but he didn't stop walking, he didn't want to, out of fear of what he might say to him.

John sighed heavily and reached out to grab a hold of him by the shoulder, pulling his son around to face him. He had been there himself, he had been the same way when Mary had died, he had thought the answer was drowning all the pain in whiskey, but he had learned in time that it never made it better, it just made it hurt more. And he wasn't about to let Dean wind up in the same dark place he had once been. It wasn't a road that he wanted his son to be walking.

"Dean, you can't do this." he almost pleaded with him, and it was a tone that Dean had never heard him use before, with anyone. "You can't deal with Haley's death like this, son. I know it's hard, but—"

"What the hell do you know, Dad?" Dean snapped at him, stopping him before he had the chance to say anything more, because he was too far gone to care. He finally managed to look him in the eyes, and there was an anger there that John had never seen directed at him before. "You were never there for her." he spat. "_I'm_ the one who looked out for her everyday. _I_ was the one who watched her back and made sure she was okay. _I'm_ the one who was there for her when she needed someone, not you. It was _never_ you."

John sighed, he wasn't willing to argue with him at that point. Hell, he didn't even know if he was in a position to argue with him. Dean's words stung, they hurt, and he knew it was true. Haley had trusted Dean with everything she had in her. If she had a problem, she would go to Dean. She was upset or hurt, Dean. She needed help with something, Dean. Something had happened, Dean would know. Something was wrong, Dean would see it. She was hiding something, Dean would figure it out. It was always Dean, never him.

"I know." he said, remorseful. "But I'm here now, Dean."

And that comment only seemed to spur Dean on further. "Hm." He nodded slowly, contemplating his response for a moment, before he looked up to him again. "And all it took was for one of your kids to die." he said quietly, his tone lethal. With that, he turned his back on him and continued on his way.

Whether John was willing to argue with him or not, there was a line, there was a certain level of anger he just wouldn't take from his son. He continued after him, fighting back the anger. "Alright, Dean. That's enough." he said seriously, raising his voice slightly. "I know you're upset—"

"Do you?" Dean turned sharply to face him. "I should have saved her, Dad. She was _my_ responsibility and I let her down."

That was enough for him. He could take Dean hating him, blaming him, but he wouldn't stand there and let him blame himself. "Dean, you listen to me right now," His voice grew deadly serious as he spoke. "This was not your fault, okay? Any of it."

Dean sighed heavily, looking as though he was fighting back tears. It wasn't what he wanted to hear. He didn't want anyone's sympathy, he didn't need it. Honestly, it just made him feel even worse. All he wanted was an escape, he wanted to push it down and drink it away before he did something he was going to regret. He wanted to shove it away before Sam caught onto what a mess he truly was, before he broke down himself, before he snapped.

"Come on," His dad placed a steady hand on his shoulder and began making a move towards the Impala. "We're going back to the motel, you've had enough for one night, you need to sleep it off." For a second Dean looked as though he was going to protest, but John carried on before he had the chance. "You can take my room, I'll take the couch. I don't want your brother seeing you in that state."

Dean went with him, trying to ignore how empty he felt inside. Sure he could sleep it off tonight and try to kill it all again tomorrow. That was what he had grown accustomed to doing. Eventually, he was convinced he would find the right amount of alcohol to make it stop hurting, because there had to be something that would make it easier. There had to be some kind of an escape from the pain, somewhere. How was he supposed to live with himself if it never got better? Because, at that point, feeling like he did, he knew he wouldn't last much longer.


	3. Chapter 3

_This was a request I had last week, (sorry for the wait with the posting)!_

_It doesn't really go with any chapter from Saving Grace, and you can either choose to think it happened or not, entirely up to you. There aren't any spoilers in this one for SG. _

_in this fic, Dean would be 18 and Haley 16. _

_Hope you enjoy! :-)_

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><p>Dean pressed his foot down firmer on the gas pedal as his hands gripped to the steering wheel tighter, to the point that his knuckles turned white, taking the stolen black car even faster down the road. He didn't know where he was supposed to be driving to, or what it was he was trying to drive away from—whether it was the hunting life, the memories that constantly haunted him, the urge he had to break down or the battle he was currently in with himself not to lose it—but he couldn't get away from it all fast enough.<p>

It was dark outside and his vision wasn't at its clearest, yet he never lifted his boot from the gas, if anything he pressed it down even harder and carried on down the secluded highway that he couldn't name. He didn't have a clue where they were, and he didn't know how to stop. He didn't even want to stop.

Beside him, Haley breathed out deeply in the passenger seat. Her heart was thumping rapidly in her chest as she stared ahead at the dark road, her eyes wide and fearful. She had thought he had been kidding around, there was no way she could have anticipated_ this_. The two of them had gotten into the most pathetic argument at the motel, she didn't even know why it had started, but from the moment Dean had walked in to the minute he stormed out three minutes later, there had been a tension between them slowly rising. Dean had been looking for a fight, and he hadn't found one in the bar he had spent the whole night in, and so he had headed back to the motel room with the intention to have it out with her.

She had only asked him where he had been all night, because coming back at almost two in the morning wasn't something Dean did, and it was more out of concern than anything else, because he had obviously been drunk, and he had snapped. He had yelled at her—told her what he did was nothing to do with her, that she couldn't control him and that she wasn't in charge of him—and then he had walked out.

Before she could even get a word out to try and calm her brother down the door had slammed closed behind him, leaving her and Sam there in a tense silence. She had turned to look at him, watching her curiously for her next move, and sighed. With the simple command not to leave the room she had turned and followed her elder sibling from the room.

It wasn't often that Dean would stay out so late, especially without bothering to tell anyone where he had gone, he didn't like to leave her and Sam alone if he could help it. And it was even less often that he would stand in front of his sister and stare at her in the way that almost dared her to provoke him, but yet he had done both in one night.

Haley ran out onto the freezing cold parking lot, only wearing a t-shirt and never thinking twice about it, and watched as he so effortlessly broke into one of the cars there. She followed him, determined to work out what was going on, and climbed into the passenger side. He had yelled at her once again, all but shouting in her face for her to get out again, but he hadn't won. She had tried desperately to talk some sense into him, to tell him that he was being stupid, but nothing seemed to be sinking into his head. And then he had drove. He pulled out of the parking lot and took off down the quiet street outside of the motel's parking lot, going at least twenty over the limit.

It was only as he made the turn out of town that she realised neither of them had a clue where they were going, Dean was just driving. And not well. He was cutting corners and missing red lights, barely looking as he made his way through the streets.

The sound of him yelling at her had stunned Haley into silence, but somehow, when she knew that things were getting out of control, she managed to find her shaky voice again, and was the first one to speak since he had started the car. "Dean—"

"No." He cut her off sharply before she could even get another word to pass her lips.

But she wasn't giving up. "Dean," she tried again, a little firmer. "Whatever it is that's going on with you, just stop, okay? We'll talk about—"

"I don't need to talk about it, Haley." he yelled, his only reaction was to press his foot down harder still.

Haley clenched her teeth and fought back the urge to cry. She took a deep breath as the car got faster, more afraid than she had been in a long, long time. "Dean," she pleaded, desperate. "Please, you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk, Haley." he snapped. "I'm fine. I know what I'm doing."

And somewhere, she knew that he really believed that. If he convinced himself enough he could assure himself he knew what he was doing, when, in reality, he really didn't. There was no way his head was on straight, he wouldn't be doing something so stupid otherwise. In his right mind, Dean wouldn't have stolen a car and set off wasted down the highway with his sister in the passenger seat. And that's how she knew, something was really wrong.

"No, Dean, you don't." she cried, tears in her eyes. "Please—"

"Shut _up_, Haley!" He could hear the fear in her voice, and he didn't like it. He couldn't listen to it. He had to block it out.

"Dean, pull over." Her voice calmed a little, but her breathing was heavy, her chest rising and falling harshly. He wasn't even wearing a seatbelt.

"Haley," He shook his head. "I said—"

"Pull the _fucking_ car over!" she screamed at him, finally pushed over the edge, she couldn't take anymore.

Before she even had a chance to register what was going on, Dean slammed down on the brakes, hard. She had to reach out and grab a firm hold of the dash in front of her before her head slammed straight into it. She wanted to be sick. Terrified, she climbed out of the car before he had the chance to start it again. She shook her head and turned, walking back in the other direction without looking back. She didn't dare. But then she heard footsteps following her.

"Haley!" Dean yelled, he sounded beyond angry. It was a tone she had never heard before.

Hearing him getting closer, she span around to face him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" she yelled up at him, shoving him hard in the chest. All she wanted to do was beat some sense into him. And, unknown to her at that point, Dean would have gladly taken a beating from her. "You could have killed us!"

Dean scoffed, actually scoffed in her face. "Don't be dramatic." he muttered, impassive.

Her eyes went wide at that comment. "Don't—dont' be dramatic?!" she repeated, incredulous. "You're driving in the middle of the night, blind drunk, in a stolen car, at god knows what speed—"

"No one forced you to get in." he stopped her.

Haley shook her head at him in disbelief, she couldn't even register that it was her brother anymore. "You're out of your fucking mind." she whispered, taking a step back, tears in her eyes. The fact that he was being so careless, so stupid, so reckless, it scared her.

"Get back in the car, Haley." he warned, tone firm, as if telling her not to argue with him.

She took a breath to calm herself and nodded. "Alright, fine, give me the keys. I'm driving." Dean huffed a laugh, like the thought amused him. "There is no way in _hell_ that I am getting into that car again with you behind the wheel."

"You know what, fine, walk back." he told her, giving a shrug as he turned to head back. "I couldn't care less if I tried."

Haley sighed, realising that she couldn't leave him there like that. He was dangerous. "Dean, don't be stupid." she called after him, expecting him to stop, but he didn't. She took a couple of steps forwards and grabbed a hold of his sleeve, but he pulled it from her grasp.

"I said go, Haley." he said, firm. "I'm not in the mood."

But Haley wasn't taking it, as he continued walking she grabbed his arm again, this time firmer, and pulled him around to face her. "Dean, please, calm down, alright?" Dean just stared at her, blank. "Think about what you're doing here."

"Don't tell me to calm down, Haley." he said, he sounded tired, all anger gone from his voice. "You're not in charge of me, alright? You are not my mom."

Haley's face dropped at that comment, because that's when she knew, with that one statement, what it had all been about. She knew, and she could tell by the look on his face that he knew she knew.

"Dean—" she went to answer, but he didn't let her.

"Don't, Haley." His voice faltered, falling quieter. "Just don't." She closed her mouth, saying nothing, and looked up at him, as if waiting for him to tell her what to do. "You know what," He reached into his jacket pocket and handed her the keys to the car. "Just go."

With that, he turned away and walked off, kicking the dirt beneath his feet as he went. He walked down the side of the highway beside the trees, just trying to calm himself down. But Haley knew that she couldn't leave him like that, and so she followed him, watching him cautiously. He continued on, not looking where he was walking, until he came to a turn off on the highway. He hadn't realised he had taken it, but he knew he shouldn't have. There was nothing there, just a wide open space and a large river.

Haley came to a stop beside him and looked up. He stared ahead, refusing to look away, having nowhere else to walk unless he wanted to start swimming, before he dropped to sit on the ground, defeated. She did the same, tentative, because she knew a part of him wanted to be alone, and looked out over the water that seemed to stretch for miles. "Is this about Mom?" she asked him softly.

Dean looked torn between talking and denying it. He glanced to her, noticing her visibly shivering, subconsciously rubbing a hand up and down her bare arm. It was the end of October, freezing weather, and that only meant one thing—November second was just four days away.

Dean looked down and shook his head. "It's not fair, Haley." he said, emotionless. He pulled off his jacket, leaving him in just a shirt and t-shirt, and draped it around her shoulders. "She should be here, you know? She should be around. You should know her. Sammy should know her."

"Dean—" Haley went to speak, but he was gone.

"You know, I wish that we could've had just a few more years with her, just enough that you could remember her." He stared off ahead while he spoke, his voice vacant, as though he had long since checked out. "She should have been the one to take you and Sammy to your first day of school, she should have been there when you were being messed around by guys, or when Sammy came home with his straight A report cards. She's _supposed_ to be here. This isn't the life you're supposed to have, Hales, you know? You should be able to have a job, a life, you should be able to get married and have bratty kids that you dump on mom and dad to babysit when you go to work...Sam, too." He paused for a moment and sighed. "You deserve to be happy. And so did she."

Haley said nothing for a moment, almost in tears. "Dean," she struggled to find the words. "What happened to mom, it was awful, but you're not alone here, okay?"

Dean nodded. "I know." he mumbled, finally looking back to her. "I know, and I'm sorry." He pulled a hand down his face, as if being slapped by a sudden realisation. "I'm sorry, Haley." he repeated. "I mean, she was your mom, too. You go through the same thing every year and you don't flip out like this."

His head dropped down to rest against his palms, she could see him struggling to hold it all together. He held it all in too long, all the time, he let nothing out, and he let it all build and build until he just couldn't take it anymore. And that was when he did things like this.

"Dean, if dealing with this means getting angry and taking a swing, then fine, take it." She shook her head and dropped her voice a little lower, more serious. "But this, what you're doing here, it's dangerous. And you're starting to scare me."

Dean thought about it for a moment and huffed a small, humorless laugh. "God, you're an idiot." he breathed out the words, as though his anger had suddenly returned to him. He looked to her, his eyes finding hers. "You just jumped in a car with me wasted. I could've killed you. What the hell were you thinking?"

Haley shook her head. "Hey, you know I wouldn't leave you like that, alright? If we're gonna go down, then we're gonna go down together." she told him firmly. "I'm right here, Dean."

Dean shook his head slowly, it crossed his mind, he didn't deserve it, any of it. He didn't deserve the faith she put into him, he didn't deserve the trust she gave him, and he certainly didn't deserve the second chances she offered, time after time. He just didn't deserve her. He was her brother, he was supposed to take care of her, not the other way around. She wasn't supposed to risk her life when he got stupid, she wasn't supposed to put herself in danger to help him—it should have been the other way around. It should be him comforting her when she had a rough patch, not her chasing him to make sure he didn't kill himself. He didn't deserve the endless tolerance and patience she seemed to have with him. Anyone else who had the amount of crap to deal with as her would've given up a long time ago, he knew that. She just kept on going, she wouldn't stop. She had proved that there. She could've died that night, because of him, and she hadn't thought twice about letting herself die right along side him. That hurt.

"Thank you," he whispered. "I don't know why you do it...but thank you."

"You're my brother, Dean." she said softly, as though the matter needed no more explanation. "That's why I do it."


	4. Chapter 4

_I know it's been ages since I've posted on this, BUT, I've been really busy trying to keep up with updating Saving Grace every Friday, so most of my writing time goes to that. _

_I hope you like this chapter, I can't remember who requested it as it was so long ago, but I'm finally finished with it. _

_In this fic, Dean is 18, Haley is 16 and Sam is 14._

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><p><em>Motel Room — Riverton, Wyoming — 04:56 pm. <em>

Dean sighed heavily as he once again paced the floor of the motel room. It wasn't like he was worried, because he wasn't, he didn't worry, he just wanted to know where his sister was. Just because. It wasn't panic, it wasn't concern, and it wasn't a pile of horrible thoughts creeping up with every minute she wasn't back in the room. No, he was just curious. That was all it was.

"Are you sure she didn't have detention or something?" he asked, looking down at his brother, who simply rolled his eyes at him. Yeah, he wasn't worried.

"I told you," Sam muttered. "I don't know where she is." His eyes fell back to the book open on his lap as he tried to ignore the continued pacing of his older brother. That had to be the fifth time he had been asked that in the past hour. He didn't know where Dean assumed he could just pull information he didn't have from. "And, like I told you the last ten times, standing at the window and glaring out there isn't gonna make her come back any faster." A small smirk crept up on his face. "Maybe she's on a date."

Dean span around to face him, impatient, hands on his hips, lips tightly pressed together for a moment. "Don't push me, Sam." he warned.

"Dean," He rolled his eyes at him. "Chill out. She'll come back."

Dean opened his mouth, maybe to say that Sam was wrong, to once again remind him that he wasn't worried, but he knew it was no use. When someone was late back, Dean worried. Of course he did. Anyone in his position would. Sam and Haley were in _his _care, they were _his _responsibility to keep safe, and he knew what was out there in the world with them. It was no surprise he felt on edge when one of them was an hour late home without saying so, because they both knew better than to do something like that. How would he explain to dad that she just hadn't come home from school one day? At what point did he stop waiting and decide that she wasn't coming back? It was probably something simple, maybe she had bumped into a friend on her way home and just hadn't thought to mention it, or maybe it was something worse, maybe something unfriendly had found her. For all he knew every second that he let slip past them could just be another second he wasn't helping her when she needed him.

It was at that thought he heard the motel door open quietly behind him, as though she had been trying to sneak in. The first thing he saw was the blatant 'I told you so' look on his brother's face, but he ignored that and turned to his sister, his face stern. Not that she was looking. She closed the door and remained facing it as she shrugged off her jacket and dropped her bag to the floor.

"And where have you been?" Dean asked her before she even had the chance to turn around, he almost scared himself with how much he sounded like their father at that point, but he couldn't afford to dwell on that. At that point, he wasn't there to be her friend, he was there to keep her safe.

Even without seeing her face he could see the defeated and weary stance about her. Something was wrong. Something had happened. She sighed, heavily, her shoulders slumped.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I, uh...I got kept behind. Flunked a history test. It's no biggie." Dean narrowed his eyes at her, suspicious. There was no way in hell Haley failed history, she could do that without even trying. He knew that. And, even if she had, there was no chance she would have stayed behind to retake a test in a school they were leaving in a few days. He didn't buy it for a second. "I'm gonna take a shower, okay?" she added quickly, reaching down for a bag as she made a move to leave the room. She hadn't even looked at them. And, that either meant she had a new piercing, or there was something about her face she didn't want them to see.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean stepped forwards, frowning. "Hold it." Haley visibly cringed but came to a stop all the same, her back still facing both her brothers. Even Sam had closed his book in curiosity. "Turn around."

She sighed, clearly reluctant. "Dean—"

"Haley." he warned. He knew something was wrong. "Turn around."

Slowly, hesitant, she turned to face him, pushing up a small, awkward smile as she did. Dean's face contorted from curious to pissed almost immediately, his eyes wide and burning with fury. Her bottom lip was split, and there was already a deep bruise forming around her left eye. Drippings of blood covered the front of her white vest, evidently having come from her nose judging by the still noticeable stain of red beneath it, and there was a dark purple bruise shaded at her collar bone. He saw red.

"What the _hell _has happened to you?" he demanded, speaking through gritted teeth. He took a step closer to take a better look, and he noticed how the edge of it had been taken away by make up. That had to be why she was so late. She had gone somewhere and plastered make up over herself in a futile attempt to hide it from them, clearly before she had realised how bad it was. That made him even madder.

"Dean—" she tried again, but he just wasn't having it. He wanted a name, he wanted an explanation.

"Tell me." he snapped, clearly working hard to bite back his anger from coming out at her, but it still showed. "_Now_."

"Look, it's not a big deal, alright?" she muttered, all patience gone. She shot him a glare before turning and heading for her room, and she slammed the door pointedly behind herself, as though warning both of them against attempting to follow.

Dean opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say, and turned to his brother, exasperated. "Have I missed something?" Sam shrugged and looked back to the book on his lap. But Dean noticed, his brother looked a lot more clued up and a lot less surprised than he was. He knew _something_. "Sam." he warned, narrowing his eyes. "What's happened?" Sam shifted a little, but said nothing. "Has she pissed someone off? Has she been in a fight? What?"

Sam sighed, defeated, and looked back to him. The warning glare in his eyes was enough for him to talk. "Look, it might be nothing to do with it, I don't know, but..." he trailed off, indicating his hesitance to tell him anything, because Sam knew as soon as he spoke Dean's temper would hit the roof.

"Dude." he pushed, impatient. "What's happened?"

"Well, there's this guy, right," Dean nodded, already tense. "And, he kinda tried it on with her. Made some huge point about it in the middle of the corridor, you know, showing off. So, Haley shot him down, he kinda made an ass of himself, and I guess he's pissed at her."

"Language." Dean automatically muttered, clearly deep in thought over his words.

Sam rolled his eyes at him, as if to say that his warning couldn't have concerned him less. He noticed Dean's jaw clench as he fought back his anger, his fists balled at his sides. He realised, it wouldn't be long before Dean was going to find him. "I mean, if it was even him." he quickly added. "It might have been something else. I don't know."

"This guy," he spoke slowly. "What's his name?"

"Jason Keller." Sam answered. He wasn't sure he cared anymore. He was more than pretty sure that it had been him who had done that to her. What else could it have been? And, if it had been, Sam personally couldn't wait to see what his brother was going to do. He deserved whatever their older brother was going to do to him.

Dean sighed, shaking his head in frustration as he crossed the room, and pounded on her bedroom door with the side of his fist. "Haley," he called through the wood, his temper evident in his tone. "You got two choices here, because I ain't in the mood to screw around, you either get your ass out here right now or I'm coming in there and you're coming out anyway. Pick."

There was the sound of muffled movements, and then her muttering something to herself, most likely about him, before the door was pulled opened and she looked up at him with raised eyebrows, expectant. "What?" she asked, as if to say she didn't have the time to listen to him. "I've got homework, so, if it isn't important—"

"Don't _'what' _me." he muttered, taking a hold of her around the top of her arm as he pulled her from the doorway. "And you don't do your homework, so don't even try that one with me." She tugged her arm free of his grasp and stood in front of him, waiting. "Jason Keller, right?" At that, she shot a look to Sam, who simply shrugged, the smallest hint of a smirk on his face. "How many of them were there?"

"What do you mean how many of them were there?" she asked, incredulous.

"Well, I know you, and you don't end up in that state fighting one on one." he stated, raising his eyebrows as if to tell her to stop screwing around with him. "So, how many were there?"

Haley sighed, what else could she do? It was either going to come from her or he would go and beat the answers out of someone else. "Five." she mumbled, almost inaudible.

"Five?" he repeated, a new level of rage in his voice. He looked livid.

"Dean, it's fine." she tried, making some attempt to calm him, but he was too far gone.

"No, Haley, it isn't fine." he snapped. "It's not fine for five guys to beat on one girl." His face suddenly turned dark. "And he's about to find that out."

And before either Haley or Sam could get out another word, Dean was out of the room.

* * *

><p>It didn't take Dean long to find him. He was one of those kids, you ask in the right place, find the right people, he was easy. They were a well known group around town—football jocks who thought they had the right to whatever girl they pleased—Dean had known too many of them in his time. And he had never liked them. He had never understood them, their subconscious need to be popular in school, to be the star of the football team with the pretty blonde cheerleader girlfriend. They were the type to pick on kids like his brother for no real reason, to harass girls like his sister for having self respect and knowing how to say no.<p>

Being eighteen, Dean had zero issue walking straight through the doors at the front of the school, determined in what he was doing. No one stopped him and no one questioned him. The hallways were deserted, there was no one around. And so Dean strode straight through to the other side of the building, where he presumed the exit to the football fields would be. And, sure enough, he soon heard the sound of male voices coming from somewhere close by. He pushed open a door and found the voices grew louder as he made his way into the locker room.

Dean looked around slowly. It looked as though the whole team was in there, and none of them seemed to have noticed that he had entered. At random, he tapped the guy closest to him on the shoulder. He turned, looking stunned at the sight of the unfamiliar man behind him. "Which one of you punks is Jason Keller?" he asked, his voice hard, and everyone within hearing distance of them fell silent—everyone but the five guys at the other side of the room.

The kid nodded over at one of them, and Dean scoffed at the sight. He didn't know what to laugh at first, his hair or his shirt. Slowly, dangerously, he approached him, aware that every other set of eyes in the room was fixed on him. He came to a stop behind him, eyeing him as if he were a predator, and cleared his throat.

The kid stopped his laughter and slowly turned to him, eyebrows raised. His four friends seemed to instinctively circle around him, as though they were ready to protect him. Hell, Dean could've cracked up laughing at that. But the stern frown on his face never faltered. "Can I help you?" The guy asked him, looking him up and down slowly. He easily matched Dean in height, and probably in build—in fact, he was probably bigger than him—and that only made him madder. Dean knew, if he really wanted to, how much damage he would be able to inflict upon his sister, no matter how good she was, he overpowered her effortlessly, she was half his size. And if there was one thing Dean couldn't take, it was guys beating on girls half their size.

Dean tutted, shaking his head at him slowly. "Heard you've been screwing with Haley Winchester." he said, his voice was upbeat and casual, as though nothing was wrong.

The guy scoffed in his face, like he didn't see a problem. "What's your point?" he asked, running a hand through his hair, and that was when Dean noticed the slight grazing on his knuckles. "Little slut had it coming to her." His friends around him snickered, but everyone else in the room seemed to realise that he wasn't there to agree with them.

"Hm." Dean nodded slowly, as though contemplating his response. "Well, you see, that _little slut_, as you call her, happens to be my kid sister. You seeing my problem here?" His eyes moved from him to one of the guys standing behind him, and he narrowed his eyes at the impressive black eye he had. "Nice shiner," he commented, sarcastic. "My sister do that?"

The guy shifted, and that gave Dean his answer. "Look," Jason muttered. "Do you want something?"

Dean smiled at him, anything but kind, but said nothing. Instead, he punched him hard in the face, sending him stumbling back into his friends with a bloody nose and a bruised ego, friends who he noticed made no move to assist him. "Bet you think you're all real tough, huh?" he spoke lowly, looking between the five of them with a darkness in his features. "Five guys on one girl. Impressive. Really."

One of the guys behind him seemed to understand the look in his eyes. He was looking for revenge, he was there to do to them what they had done to his sister, probably more, and that didn't leave them in a good place. "Look, man—"

But Dean wouldn't have it. He punched him in the face, even harder, and sent him straight to the ground, effortlessly. That was when the other three made a move, seeming to finally realise they were going to have to defend themselves, acting like they thought they had a chance against him. And Dean took each of them down without having so much as a scratch inflicted upon himself. It was almost pitiful how easy they went down. The sound of his fist impacting with flesh, the sound of them grunting in pain as Dean split skin and broke noses, the sound of them falling to the ground at his feet, it was all enough to leave the room in a tense and heavy silence.

Purposely, only he and Jason were left, standing and staring each other straight in the eyes. Dean looked dangerous, lethal, animalistic, but Jason looked afraid. He opened his mouth to speak, maybe to offer up a sarcastic comment, or maybe to apologise and beg Dean not to do to him what he had done to the others, but he moved first. He grabbed him around the front of the collar and threw him back against the lockers, pinning him there, his face inches away. "Let me tell you something about Haley Winchester," he growled, speaking through gritted teeth. "You fight her, you fight me. That goes for Sam, too. Got it?"

Jason nodded vigorously, clearly too shaken to speak, he looked terrified. He knew what he had coming, he knew he wasn't getting away with it. And the fear in his eyes showed Dean the type of guy he was really dealing with there. He knew right then, this guy, he was done. His reputation was in tatters. Everyone would know tomorrow. These five guys, supposedly the top of the school, the ones who ran everything, the popular kids, the tough football stars, they had been beaten down by one guy defending his sister.

And, with that thought in mind, and a smug smile on his face, Dean brought back his fist and landed another hard punch to his face. And then another, and another, and another, over and over until he was only standing by the grip Dean held on his throat. He tightened it for a moment, leaning closer, cutting off any air supply he had. "You even _breathe _near my sister or brother again, I swear to god, I will end you." he warned. "Do you understand me?" Jason nodded, but that didn't satisfy him this time. He brought him forward before slamming him back against the lockers again even harder, and he cried out in pain at the impact. "I said, do you understand me?" he asked, his voice even harder.

"Yes." he choked out. "Yes—I—I understand. I'm sorry. Please—"

Dean scoffed in his face, shaking his head. "You're pathetic." he spat. "All of you." And, with that, he sent another hard punch crashing to his face and sent him to the floor with the rest of his friends, shaking his head at them. "Absolutely pathetic."

No one questioned him as he turned and strode out of the room without looking back, eyes wide and mouths hanging open at what they had just witnessed.

But word had quickly spread the next day as Sam and Haley walked through the doors to school. Everyone knew. They took one look at them and just knew, they were the kids nobody messed with, because now everyone in that building understood the potentially lethal storm that was behind them.

Everyone in that building knew of Dean Winchester. And they knew, no one wanted to meet him in the same way the five guys missing that day had done.


End file.
